The strong nuclear force, also called simply the strong force, is responsible for binding subatomic particles. It collates hadrons, of which protons and neutrons are a variety, as well as the constituent quarks that comprise protons and neutrons. Though the formation and composition of all matter in the Universe depend primarily on the strong force, many of its characteristics are still not fully understood.

The team analyzed the diffraction pattern of scattering of the exotic isotope 10C fol­lowing impact with an innovative, custom-made solid hydrogen target at IRIS. 10C is an invaluable tool to expose the finer details of the strong nuclear force because it sits at the proton drip-line- the edge of proton-rich bound nuclear isotopes. The paper demonstrated that, unlike highly stable carbon-12 (12C) and other naturally occurring elements, isotopes near the drip-line (like 10C) can amplify the less known features of the nuclear force in the scattering cross section. By comparing the new experimental results to theoretical predictions, the team was able to uncover a new and extremely sensitive probe of the nuclear force.

Measured differential cross section compared to calculations with different modern nuclear force models. See the Physical Review Letters article for details